A Busy Summer for an Ocean Giant

June marks a busy time for bluefin tuna fishermen in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Today, the Mediterranean purse-seine season comes to an end after a furious monthlong race to fish. Because of high demand and increasing prices, thousands of bluefin worth millions of dollars were caught this season. In fact, so many bluefin were pulled in by French and Spanish vessels that they were ordered to stop fishing after just two weeks.

June 1 also signaled the start of the summer handgear season in the United States; U.S. fishermen could begin targeting bluefin using rods and reels and hand-thrown harpoons. This type of artisanal fishing catches one bluefin at a time, as opposed to the industrial-scale fishing in the Mediterranean that uses large nets to encircle entire schools.

View our new infographic below to learn more about the Atlantic bluefin, discover why its population has declined, and what must be done to help the species recover.

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